After months of testimony, pleas and even some tears, the fate of the Blue Line came down to a one-paragraph statement issued by one of the most powerful politicians in Indiana.
House Speaker Todd Huston announced Thursday, Feb. 29, that city and state officials reached a compromise to save the Blue Line. The agreement means that Senate Bill 52, which would have banned dedicated lanes for the planned bus rapid transit route, will not move forward.
The agreement happened behind closed doors. Its details have not been made public, but the crux of the deal is this: IndyGo can move forward with the Blue Line so long as the route keeps two lanes of vehicle traffic in both directions “whenever possible,” said Huston, R-Fishers.
The deal also is expected to create dedicated lanes in Irvington on the east side and the area around the former Central State Hospital on the west side, a person familiar with the negotiations told Mirror Indy.
That caveat appears to have satisfied critics of the plan, chief among them Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, the author of SB 52 who has written and supported bills targeting IndyGo over multiple years.
“My main goal is and always has been to keep Washington Street open to both cars and buses,” Freeman said in a statement. “After the introduction of SB 52, the city of Indianapolis has negotiated with the legislature to make sure that goal will still be achieved.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration also agreed to Freeman’s request for a one-year moratorium on any new no-turn-on-red signs in the downtown core.
In a statement about the Blue Line, Hogsett thanked Huston for working with IndyGo and the city to come to an agreement.
“I am grateful for the many community members who continued to show up and advocate for this transformative investment for our city,” Hogsett said in written remarks.
For IndyGo, it appears the deal will preserve the agency’s eligibility to receive $150 million in federal funding for the Blue Line. The grant application hinged on IndyGo using dedicated bus lanes for the 25-mile route, which is slated to run from the Indianapolis International Airport to Cumberland, traversing Washington Street and I-70.
IndyGo has said the funding would be used to build bus stops and dedicated lanes, as well as other infrastructure improvements along Washington Street, including wider sidewalks, newly paved roads and drainage improvements. The grant funding is expected to be awarded in the fall, according to the Federal Transit Administration.
Construction on the $370 million project is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed by 2027.
Freeman and other Republican leaders, including Huston, previously said a pause on the Blue Line would have allowed lawmakers to have a wider discussion about road funding during next year’s legislative session. Those conversations would have included the possibility of the state reclaiming Meridian and Washington streets, both former state highways.
Those discussions are still expected to happen, Rep. Jim Pressel, chair of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, told reporters Thursday.
“I’m open to entertaining that conversation, but I’m really scared that it sets a dangerous precedent,” said Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie. “If we were to take that back, then does Fort Wayne come to me and go, ‘Hey, we want you to take this back’… We’ve got to figure out if that is part of the road funding solution or not.”
While Freeman has authored bills in previous sessions targeting the Blue Line, SB 52 advanced further than his past efforts. The legislation had been eligible for a vote on the House floor Thursday.
Rep. Blake Johnson, an Indianapolis Democrat who fiercely opposed the legislation and shed tears during a House committee meeting, said he was “thrilled” by the development.
IndyGo issued a statement Thursday praising the Indiana General Assembly for continuing the conversation about the Blue Line.
“And thank you to the citizens of Indianapolis who worked so hard to support IndyGo and the Blue Line project,” the statement read.
Mirror Indy reporter Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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